[Distutils] setup.py should use if __name__ == '__main__', right?

[Asheesh Laroia]

Hi nice distutils/PyPA people,

I had a question that probably is worth showing up in the archives. Namely:

It seems to me like bizarre bad form for the setup.py file to execute what
amounts to a main() function at import time.

I presume this is just some kind of historical accident, and if the early
authors of the distutils docs were careful, they'd have recommended:

from distutils.core import setup

if __name__ == '__main__':
    setup()  # FIXME args


rather than just:

from distutils.core import setup

setup()  # FIXME args



Is that an accurate assessment? If so, that's great, because I plan to
remark on this bemusedly in my talk. If there is a reason it is the way it
is, however, then I will avoid making a joke that is wrong in an important
way.

-- Asheesh.
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